GENERALS GUILTY IN MEXICO DRUG CASE

MEXICO CITY -- A military court Friday convicted two generals of aiding
drug smugglers, concluding a high-profile case aimed at cracking down on
Mexico's drug trade.

The five-general panel convicted Gen. Francisco Quiros and Brig. Gen.
Arturo Acosta of protecting cocaine and marijuana shipments for drug lord
Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who died in 1997 after undergoing plastic surgery.

It sentenced Quiros to 16 years in prison and Acosta to 15. They have
already served two years. The court cleared the men of another charge of
criminal association.

Prosecutors accused the generals of protecting drug smugglers and using
military airplanes to transport shipments of cocaine and marijuana. Quiros
was also found guilty of taking bribes from Carrillo Fuentes, who was
Mexico's most-wanted drug trafficker in the mid-1990s. The panel ordered
two cars and other goods confiscated.

The men were stripped of their ranks and their military decorations.

Attorneys for the two said they would appeal.

The officers also face separate charges in the deaths of 130 leftist
activists in the 1970s.